


(Un?)Friendly Competition

by VinceMaples



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Amy needs friends, Awkward Tension, Bakugou is an Asshole, Board Games, Bonding, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Developing Friendships, Enemies to Friends, Gen, King Explosion Murder and Panacea get along surprisingly well, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 03:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14369874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VinceMaples/pseuds/VinceMaples
Summary: Amy Dallon struggles against an unusual opponent.





	(Un?)Friendly Competition

She didn't understand him.

This in itself wasn't something particularly unique. There were plenty of things she'd never been able to wrap her mind around; the reason why her 'mother' treated like a criminal, whatever sick, twisted motivation a person might have to put pineapples on their pizza. The important things in life. The teen sat across from her though, he took the cake when it came to things beyond her comprehension.

Their first meeting had been anything but friendly. She'd first learned of his existence after receiving a call from the hospital about Vicky. For all of her recklessness and general disregard for her own safety, Vicky had never once needed a hospital visit after she'd developed her powers, so when Amy heard 'severe burns' through the phone, she'd rushed out in a panic.

Earlier, a call had been made about some ABB thugs causing trouble downtown, and by the time her sister had entered the fray, the random goons were in various states of injury, and an unknown teenager with smoke rising from his palms was in the center of it. Never one to back away from a confrontation, Glory Girl had assumed that he was simply a new parahuman criminal trying to make a name for himself and acted accordingly. As much as Amy loved her, she couldn't deny that her sister tended to lean on the hasty side when it came to conflict.

Also, the fact that the guy hadn't spoken a lick of English hadn't made it any easier for them to communicate.

Naturally, things had escalated, and after an intense fight that had gotten the PRT's attention, Vicky was hurt and the mysterious parahuman had escaped. The PRT had done everything to cover it up the moment things had calmed down. The area had been blocked off, and Glory Girl had been recovered and brought to the hospital immediately. Nobody wanted the news to get out that Glory Girl had been injured by an unknown player.

Amy hadn't been able to muster any interest in the details of the fight until after she'd healed her sister, but she'd been unable to hold in her curiosity once Vicky was capable of explaining what had happened. 'Bombs in his hands,' hadn't been particularly descriptive, but years of getting in-depth looks at the bodies of various superpowered people had given Amy a greater understanding of biology than virtually anybody else in the world. Apparently, the guy's power allowed him to ignite his palms to create explosions, and he was good at using them. Like, limited flight, abruptly changing direction to attack from a different angle, sudden bursts of speed, mimicking the effects of flash grenades levels of good. Sparky (her sister's name for the guy) had displayed a level of skill and experience with his powers that would leave the entire wards roster in awe.

Not to mention that, from Vicky's description, he probably couldn't be much older than she was.

From the sound of things, the guy sounded like the local protectorate's wet dream come to life, if not for the fact that his first public appearance was a violent fight with a popular hero. The protectorate might have been interested in him, but Amy had been terrified. Skills like that meant he'd probably obtained his powers a while ago, and worse, it implied that the guy had gotten lots of practice with them.

The concept of a villain who could defeat Glory Girl in a straight fight managing to fly under the radar for who knows how long, and somehow disappearing immediately after the battle was chilling. Glory Girl wasn't your typical young cape; people called her the second coming of Alexandria for a reason. Vicky had been all but unbeatable since her trigger event, and she had only gotten more formidable as she grew more accustomed to her abilities. Yet a no-name parahuman could put her in the hospital on his first try?

She hadn't been able to shake the fear that this guy's presence would mean more injuries, more patients being brought in covered in severe burns, barely clinging to life as they struggled to hold on until she could heal them. Because nobody was as capable as Panacea.

What if something went wrong, and she messed up? Call her selfish, but she didn't need that on her conscience.

No matter how hard she tried, these tiny, selfish impulses would rise to the surface before she could shove them down. Flares of bitterness and resentment for her patients. Why couldn't they just take care of themselves? It didn't matter how much she wished otherwise, but she could only do so much. But that never stopped them from finding new ways to get hurt. Always a new reason for the miracle healer to work her magic.

She hated these thoughts. None of the people she healed actually wanted to get hurt. None of them had gone out of their way to get sick or have an accident because they wanted to give her more work. And now another violent criminal had made his way into their lives. How many people would he hurt before he was caught?

Whoever this guy was, he was dangerous and she wanted him taken down. So when they'd crossed paths after a month, she hadn't been inclined to say hi.

And yet here she was, playing connect four with him. Irony thy name is Amy.

Somehow, the guy had gotten caught up in another skirmish, this time at the bank with actual villains. The Undersiders were known for being small-time criminals who mainly made a living stealing from smaller, less popular venues. Yet for some reason, they'd chosen to attack one of the most popular locations in the bay in broad daylight. Oh well, she couldn't accuse people who chose a life of crime of being particularly smart.

It had been one of the most intense moments of her life. She'd loathed the idea of working with a villain for any reason, but the guy had snarled and ordered her to assist him in driving the Undersiders away in noticeably mangled English.

A few minutes and more explosions than she'd ever wanted to see up close, along with assistance from the Wards led by Armsmaster, and the Undersiders were forced to beat a hasty retreat. Their newest member, some skinny girl with one of the creepiest costumes Amy had seen in a while, unconscious with a fierce lump on the back of her head; courtesy of a well-placed fire extinguisher.

She still couldn't figure out why she had listened to him. Maybe it was the utter seriousness in his tone, or the vicious look he threw towards Regent, sauntering back and forth across the lobby, twirling his scepter in front of the cowering hostages. She'd been on enough patrols with Vicky to understand the violence that expression heralded, and after a short planning session, they'd ambushed the criminals from behind before Vicky herself came bursting through the walls.

In that instant, everything had become crystal clear to Amy as if her vision had suddenly become 40/20. She'd seen the anger emanating from her sister switch to confusion, then fury as she realized who she was looking at. Amy still couldn't understand why she had prevented what would surely have been a righteous, utterly deserved beatdown, but she hadn't been able to stop herself. She'd barely managed to stay strong in the face of Vicky's overwhelming aura to inform her that Sparky was helping them out. Her sister's bemusement (along with the glare he sent her way at the nickname) had been apparent, but she'd quickly shaken it off and neutralized Tattletale, who'd taken the time to pull out a gun while they were distracted, and shortly afterward the Undersiders were running with their tails between their legs.

Afterward had gone by in a blur. A squad of PRT troops promptly charged inside to secure the area and make sure the hostages were safe. While Vicky checked over her for injuries (and she'd barely been able to keep down a blush) they'd taken Sparky into custody. For some reason, he hadn't shown any resistance as they herded him away.

She'd thought that would be the end of it, and after a few days, most of her thoughts concerning the young criminal had been pushed to the back of her mind. A week passed, and the entirety of New Wave was called into PRT headquarters. As it turned out, the guy was being put under house-arrest so to speak. At her house.

It made sense in a way. He didn't have a costume or mask of any kind, and he was bound to be a target after being seen getting into fights with several local villains and a popular hero. What she hadn't understood is why it had to be their home, but of course, her concerns had been overridden.

Some crap about the PRT watching him, and attaching an ankle tracker to make sure that he didn't try anything. Also his promise to follow their guidelines until everything was straightened out. As if a villain could be trusted to tell the truth.

 _'It wasn't like they would ignore similar complaints if they'd come from Vicky instead,'_ she hid a shiver at the bitter tinge of her thoughts. Instead, she dropped a black piece into the slot, blocking what would have been the winning move. His brows furrowed and she smirked at him over the board.

It had only been a week since he'd begun his stay at the Dallon household, but things had finally started to settle. The situation had been beyond tense for the first few days. She did her best to avoid him, but Vicky hadn't backed down for a second. She'd lost track of how many times the two had been glaring at each other over something pointless. After the second week without anyone being blown up in their beds, things had finally cooled down.

The guy was learning English at a surprising pace as well. He missed some words here and there, and he had one of the foulest mouths she had ever listened to, which was saying something considering the countless people she'd encountered in her line of work, but it was extremely impressive to pick up on a foreign language so quickly.

His name was interesting too. Katsuki Bakugou, or Bakugou Katsuki, since in Japan they went with the surname in front of the first name. God, that had been a pain. It wasn't that his name was that hard to pronounce, but it was so out of place, so foreign that it had taken her three full days to stop slipping up. Going from Victoria, Carol, and Mark to Katsuki was disorienting.

Amy refocused on the board, trying to ignore the way her cheeks burned. She'd gotten the hang of it after a while hadn't she? Vicky had given up completely, choosing to call him Bomberman instead, after an old video game she'd played as a kid.

Katsuki hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he hated the nickname, which only spurred her on. Amy had half a mind to make her sister knock it off, for her own sake as much as his, but she knew it would be futile. Vicky was incredibly stubborn, and Bakugou was the exact same way, only with the added quirk of being a monumental asshole.

Her opponent dropped another red piece down, earning a scowl from her. They had been playing for over ten minutes and she hadn't been able to get anything past him. It didn't matter how cleverly she hid her intentions, Bakugou always managed to stop her at the last second. However, he hadn't been able to make his own line of four either. She drew some comfort from that. Despite acting more like a two-bit thug than a teenager, the dude was pretty smart.

It was their fifth game today and she'd only beaten him once. It was as infuriating as it was impressive, and she took mild satisfaction in the fact that it was taking longer to win every time.

It didn't matter how smart he was, she had experience dammit.

His lips twitched upwards at the sign of her irritation, but his laser-like stare never left the board. His eyes were fascinating to look at; harsh crimson that made her think of rubies. They almost burned with an unnatural intensity, like a volcano that was on the verge of erupting. They were bright and attention-grabbing the same way Victoria was, only Katsuki didn't have an aura to make people pay attention. His charming personality and loud voice did that for him.

However, the most interesting thing about him was his complete lack of a corona pollentia. That had managed to grab her attention more than anything else. It didn't make any sense whatsoever. He was a cape. Amy had seen the explosions emanating from his palms with her own eyes during the bank incident. So how was it possible for that he lacked the most basic requirement of being a parahuman?

The fact that she couldn't find it made her nervous. It was unheard of for somebody to trigger without that specific section of their brain becoming active, so why was he different?

She'd decided to keep that piece of information to herself. She wouldn't go so far as to call them friends, but she wasn't naive enough to be ignorant of what would happen to him should the Protectorate learn his secret. He'd be taken away for study immediately, as quietly and quickly as the Protectorate could possibly manage. There, he would be subjected to endless tests where he would be prodded, have his powers tested to exhaustion, and generally spend every waking moment as a lab rat. And then where would they be?

Vicky wouldn't have anybody to get into fights with. She wouldn't have anybody to grumble at when they ran out of Frosted Flakes, because Katsuki liked the cereal as much as she did. Even Carol would miss the opportunity to have another teenager to scold for being too loud when Mark tried to sleep.

She wouldn't have somebody to compete against in connect four. Mark could barely get himself out of bed to eat sometimes, Vicky didn't have the patience, and god forbid she actually go out of her way to spend quality time with Carol of all people. Her head hurt just thinking about it.

They weren't friends, but she might actually miss having him around if that happened. Not very much, but enough to bother her.

A clatter of plastic interrupted her inner monologue, and she focused on the board again, only to blanch as she noticed four red circles pointed in an even, perfectly uninterrupted line going diagonally upwards. How could she have missed him setting that up?

He tilted his head at her shocked expression over the board. "I win," he said in one of the most uninterested voices she'd ever heard. The bastard didn't even look happy about it, looking more like he'd finished his chores for the day. His eyes managed to tell a completely different story, glittering with smugness. Like a cat that came home with a dead mouse trapped between it's jaws, expecting a reward.

She gave him a two-fingered salute to congratulate him on his victory. He just grinned like she'd said something funny.

The prick.

Never mind, she understood him perfectly. Katsuki Bakugou was an asshole.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted the opportunity to have two of everyone's favorite fandom a-holes to meet, and so this story was born!
> 
> You can find this story on FF.net as well.


End file.
